Senator Kaine to Speak at Commencement

Published date:
April 21, 2014

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine will deliver the keynote address at Virginia State University’s Spring Commencement on Sunday, May 11. The ceremony will be held at the Richmond Coliseum, beginning with a processional at 9:40 a.m. VSU expects to graduate nearly 600 students.

VSU will bestow upon Senator Kaine the University’s first President’s Medal. President Keith T. Miller established the Virginia State University President’s Medal to honor individuals who have distinguished themselves by their actions and who have contributed to the well-being of Virginia State University or the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The University will also honor Mr. James Keith Copeland of Dale City, VA as Alumnus of the Year.

Tim Kaine has served people throughout his life as a missionary, civil rights lawyer, teacher and elected official. He is one of just 20 Americans (and the only Virginian) to have represented his community as a Mayor, Governor and United States Senator. He was elected to the Senate in 2012 and serves on the Armed Services, Budget and Foreign Relations Committees. He is Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on the Near East, South and Central Asian Affairs, overseeing American foreign policy in this critical region, from Morocco to Bangladesh.

Sen. Kaine is a Kansas City native who was educated at the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School. He started his public service career by taking a year off from Harvard to work with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras in 1980 – 1981. After law school, he practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing in representing people who had been denied housing due to their race or disability.

Sen. Kaine is married to Anne Holton, who currently serves as Virginia Secretary of Education. A former legal aid lawyer and juvenile court judge, Anne recently ran Great Expectations, a program for more than 500 foster children attending Virginia community colleges. The Kaines revel in the adventures of their three grown children and live in the same Northside Richmond neighborhood where they moved as newlyweds nearly 30 years ago.